Day 21 - Immunity-boosting tomato sauce with mushrooms

Gary is on the ball today and has already set everything out on the counter. He is very excited to be making a new healthy (and quicker) tomato sauce!

"Mmm, so many flavourful spices!" 

We've just begun cooking and already it smells delicious! 

Gary thinks his friends will be impressed with his new recipe, especially because he got it from the Oh She Glow's vegan cookbook we got in the mail just the other week. 

When we finally got to taste Gary's new creation, we were pleasantly surprised by the kick that certain spices had. I'm not exactly sure what Chia seeds taste like as it was Gary's first time cooking with them, but something or other filled the recipe with a tasteful array of flavours!

Immunity-boosting Tomato Sauce with Mushrooms

Prep: 20 minutes / Cook: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil, chopped (Gary used dried basil instead)
• 1 28-ounce/793g can of diced or whole tomatoes with their juices
• 6 to 8 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt, to taste (can be omitted)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper (optional - but yummy!)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds (optional)
• 1 cup cooked lentils (optional - Gary was all out of lentils so he made due without them)

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and stir to combine. Sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Stir in the mushrooms and raise the heat to medium-high.  Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until much of the liquid released by the mushrooms has cooked off. 
3. Add the basil, whole peeled tomatoes and their juices, tomato paste, salt, oregano, and thyme. Stir to combine. With a wooden spoon, break up the whole tomatoes into chunks, bigger or smaller depending on how chunky you like your sauce. Skip this process if using diced tomatoes. Add the red pepper flakes, the chia seeds, and lentils, if desired, and stir to combine. 
4. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer the sauce, stirring every so often, for 15 to 20 minutes. 
5. Serve over pasta and enjoy!